A New, Improved Strain of Cocksfoot

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 89, Issue 5, 15 November 1954, Page 481

A New, Improved Strain of Cocksfoot

By

L. CORKILL,

Chief Plant Breeder, Grass-

lands Division, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Palmerston North

IN New Zealand cocksfoot has always been considered one of the most valuable pasture species. Not so many years ago no farmer would think of sowing down a permanent pasture without the inclusion of cocksfoot. That great authority on New Zealand grasslands A. H. Cockayne, writing in 1914 on seed mixtures for bush burns stated: "It is the most valuable pasture grass in New Zealand, being adapted to a wide range of soil and climatic conditions". In recent years its pre-eminent position has been taken over by perennial ryegrass. The rise of ryegrass to favour has resulted from work on selection, breeding, and certification leading to the almost complete elimination of the short-lived "false" perennial strains, which at one time dominated the ryegrass seed market in this country.

NJEW ZEALAND cocksfoot has had 1 7 a good reputation not only in this country but overseas, and in the past considerable quantities of seed have been exported. In England both Gilchrist and Stapledon showed that New Zealand cocksfoot was superior to various Continental and American strains in leafiness, tillering capacity, and persistency.

As long ago as 1914 work was begun by W. S. Hill at the Moumahaki Experimental Farm on breeding an improved cocksfoot. He found wide diversity in plant characters both between and within lines of seed of different origins. His objective was to produce a cocksfoot with increased bulk and quality of herbage and with a high degree of resistance to rust. In 1919 Cockayne reported that cocksfoot strains selected at Moumahaki gave high seed yields under the Danish system of seed production in intercultivated rows. There is no record of any of these selections being grown to any extent in New Zealand, and without a system of seed certification to ensure a supply of pure seed any new strain would have been rapidly lost by contamination with other strains already being grown for seed.

Studies in New Zealand by Levy and Davies in 1929 showed that New Zealand lines were superior to imported European and American strains. Lines from Akaroa, the plains of Canterbury, Wairarapa, Hawkes Bay, and Southland differed little among themselves, though within each line there was a mixture of types.

After Levy’s and Davies’s work and the inauguration by J. W. Hadfield of the Government seed certification scheme seed from known areas was first certified as true to type in 1932. In the meantime Hilgendorf and J. W. Calder at Canterbury Agricultural College had produced a strain of cocksfoot, C. 23, which in 1938 was distributed as Certified Pedigree seed. It was described by Calder as an improved pasture type, forming a finer and denser sward than the Akaroa strain. Since then this strain has been

the basis of the higher classes of Certified cocksfoot seed. Some years ago work was begun at the Grasslands Division, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Palmerston North, on breeding an improved strain of cocksfoot. The aim of this work was to produce a type of cocksfoot more vigorous and bulky than either the Akaroa or C. 23 strains, with greater seedling vigour, better seasonal spread of production, and greater ability to recover rapidly after grazing. A strain has now been produced which has been tested at Palmerston North, at the Lincoln and Gore sub-stations of the Division, and on various farms. It has proved sufficiently superior to the present Certified strains to warrant its increase under certification and release to farmers. Characteristics of the Grasslands Strain Under pasture conditions this cocksfoot is not obviously different in appearance from either the C. 23 or the Akaroa strain. It is wider in the leaf than C. 23 and a slightly lighter green than either of . these strains. These features are, however, not sufficiently distinct to enable differentiation in the field. Numerous trials have shown that it grows more rapidly in the seedling stage than either of the other two strains. Cocksfoot is a species which does not establish rapidly and even with its improved seedling vigour the new strain must still be considered relatively slow to establish. The most valuable feature of this ' cocksfoot is its improved vigour and leaf production. In the graph on the

next page its production relative to that of the C. 23 strain is shown. The graph is based on the seasonal production measured as dry weight in pounds per acre. . The data from Palmerston North and Lincoln are averages - for 3 years and those from Gore for 4 years. For the latter trial a further comparison with the Akaroa strain is shown. The trials, which at Palmerston North and Lincoln were sown in small paddocks and at Gore in replicated plots, were periodically grazed with sheep. The seeds mixture consisted of cocksfoot, Italian ryegrass, and white clover, but at Lincoln Montgomery red clover was also included. The total height of each column represents the total dry weight in pounds per acre for each season. The shaded portion represents the dry weight of the cocksfoot in the sward and the unshaded portion the dry weight production from the clover and other species, which included Italian ryegrass and unsown species. At each location there is very little difference in the total annual or seasonal production per acre regardless of which cocksfoot strain is used. When, however, the contribution that the cocksfoot makes to that production is considered it is seen that at all locations and in all seasons the new strain is superior to the others. At Palmerston North, Lincoln, and Gore the percentage increase in average annual production is 15, 13, and 20 respectively. The superiority is evident more particularly in the spring growth, where the increase is 23, 18, and 23 per cent. One of the most striking .features of this cocksfoot not only in these trials but in observational trials in different districts throughout New Zealand has

been its relatively early spring growth compared with that of C. 23. The effect of locality on the seasonal production of cocksfoot is shown clearly in the graph. In the low winter temperatures at Gore the winter growth of cocksfoot is only 4 per cent, of its annual production, and in the milder winter at Palmerston North it is 16 per cent. Then again, in the relatively dry summers at Lincoln the summer growth of cocksfoot is only 19 per cent, of its annual production, and in Palmerston North’s wetter, summer it is 28 per cent. Seed Production One of the criticisms of C. 23 cocksfoot has been that its seed production is lower than that of the old Akaroa strain. In pasture plants seed production is secondary to leaf production, but if ample seed supplies of a new strain are to be made available at an economic price, the strain must be a reasonably good seed producer. Trials have been carried out at Palmerston North, Lincoln, and Gore to determine seed yields of the Grass- , lands, C. 23, and Akaroa strains during the 4 years 1949 to 1952. The cocksfoot was sown pure in drills 24in. apart in replicated plots . and harvested in each of the 4 years.

Purity and germination tests were obtained of the machine-dressed seed. In the following table the average yield of each strain at each location in pounds of pure germinating seed per acre is shown. AVERAGE YIELD IN LB. OF PURE GERMINATING SEED PER ACRE OF THREE COCKSFOOT STRAINS FOR PERIOD 1949-52 Palmerston Strain North Lincoln Gore Akaroa .. 358 358 394 C. 23 .. . . 351 308 348 Grasslands . . 363 336 361 At Palmerston North there were no significant differences in seed yield between the three strains. At both Lincoln and Gore the Akaroa strain was significantly higher in yield than the other two. The yield of the Grasslands strain was significantly greater than that of C. 23. Under the diverse conditions of these trials the new strain has proved to have a satisfactory seed yield, but farmers growing it for seed would be well advised to consider the use of nitrogenous fertilisers to increase seed yields. It begins growth earlier in spring than either ' the C. 23 or the Akaroa strain and consequently is likely to make greater demands on the available soil nitrogen early in the season, with a consequent reduction in seed yields.

Seed Supplies Seed of the Grasslands strain is now being increased under the Government seed certification scheme. J. H. Claridge, Superintendent of the Seed Industry, Department of Agriculture, states that in the spring of 1953, 31001 b. of Certified Government Stock seed were distributed for increase growing, and further distributions will be made each year in future. No more releases of the C. 23 strain will be made under the description Certified Government Stock seed. As the supplies of the new cocksfoot are increased seed will be certified also in the lower certification classes; thus the strains which are at present recognised under certification will gradually be replaced.

Bulletin on Growing of Glasshouse Tomatoes Tomatoes are easily the most important vegetable crop grown in glasshouses in New Zealand. About 2,000,000 plants, with an average yield of 4Jlb. per plant, are grown annually. The special practices which are necessary with tomatoes under glass are described very fully in a new Department of Agriculture Bulletin No. 370 “Growing Tomatoes in Glasshouses”, which is available free from the nearest office of the Department of Agriculture.